Life Changes Plans, My Schedule of Reviews 2013

OK so my plan was to use my GT Carbon Force Pro to do a 650b conversion this year and then review a 29er/650b/26er.  Well that isn’t going to happen.  I have been honest and upfront with my conflicting obsessions of bike and cars right?  Sometimes they collide in ways you wouldn’t expect.  So in my morning cruising for sales on bike parts I may also cruise for certain car parts and cars.  Luck would have it I stumbled on my greatest weakness a few weeks ago.  It was a car I have owned 3 times before and I guess was destined to own again.  Anyway, one of the bikes had to go to justify another toy laying around and the Carbon Force paid the price.  So now what is my plan for the summer reviews, let me lay that out for you.

 

When choosing to sell the Carbon Force I didn’t sell the entire bike.  Instead I chose to break it apart and just sell off the 2 pieces worth the most money the frame and fork.  I can’t really believe it, but that sale paid for 50% of an entire car.  Hard to believe, but some bikes are not cheap.  Anyway the point is I have a lot of high end cool parts left over.  First bike to be the beneficiary of them is my new Soma Juice.  I put the carbon stem/handlebars, pedals, and brakes all on that bike.  Should make it more enjoyable to ride right out of the gate.  As the summer progresses I intend to also upgrade the fork, wheels and tires on that bike.  Look for an article on my options and ultimate decision on that front.  What else do I have cooking?


I have a multi part review on various brakes coming up, but the series is getting delayed for a really cool opportunity.  My best friend is a professor at a nearby university and one of the projects this semester will be to measure the force and power of various bike brake systems.  With that I will have some hard data on about 5-6 different brake systems ranging from low end to very high end.  Should be fun.

 

Next review will be the 29er and comparison to a 26er on my favorite trails.  Remember that college professor I hang with? Well he has some more testing equipment we may drag out for that review as well.  So in addition to just Strava times I am hoping to have some good numbers on heart rate, exertion, and different body forces. It will be an interesting twist on a topic already beat nearly to death.  Hopefully I can whoop it a bit more.

 

Other projects for the summer will be a tubeless conversion on my weight weenie bike.  I have been meaning to try this out and I have everything needed to do it.  Now I am just lacking time and some motivation to drag the bike to the Laboratory and get er done.  Should make for some interesting times…….right?  I want to capture before and after weights as well as first ride and experiences.

Last major project on the summer is the arrival of my daughter.  Right now I am sleep deprived and limited on time for a good couple of years.  I will try to share my experiences and any tips or lessons I learn from this as it relates to my biking obsession. OOOrrrrr I may ask for some help and advice how to handle being a dad with a newborn.  Wish me luck on this one.  It could get ugly, but she sure is cute.

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AdrianLong